It didn’t take long after becoming a creative entrepreneur to learn that sometimes work is life and sometimes how you do life affects your bottom line. The work / life overlap is tricky, and magical, and it can impact your business in a major way – for better or worse. Working with hundreds of creatives from all over the world has only proven this to be true. After a year or so of doing branding and business visioning for other creative entrepreneurs I decided that I needed more tools for helping creatives not only design a dream brand but a dream life for themselves. So I went through almost a year of life coach training with Martha Beck. I learned some amazing, life-changing concepts that have not only shaped how I work and coach others but how I live and move through life.

Martha Beck taught me that you should coach yourself out of a job. You shouldn’t leave your clients dependent on you – instead you should teach them how to coach themselves. The struggles and roadblocks you hit along your creative journey will always be changing – so if you have some tools in your toolbox to help you overcome along the way you’re set for life.

Right now I take one or two coaching clients a quarter. They get six sessions with me and it costs $2,500. But I’ve put everything I’ve learned along the way – the tools I teach and that I actually use myself when I feel stuck, scattered, or spread thin – into a “do it yourself” DIY Coaching for Creatives email series. I created this four week program (you get four emails per week for four weeks) because this information is too good not to share, but not everyone can afford one-on-one time with me.

HERE’S HOW DIY COACHING FOR CREATIVES WORKS:
You’ll receive four emails per week for four weeks. Each day you’ll get one of the following:

1. A goal-setting worksheet to help you design the life you want – these range from looking at how you spend your time vs. what you actually value, to daydreaming up your ideal day, to actually getting stuff done step-by-step.

2. A new mantra for each week – A mantra is simply a phrase or word that you repeat over and over to yourself. Having a mantra, affirmation, or focus can accomplish LOTS of great things – the repetition of the words you want to manifest literally carves out new neural pathways and makes new connections in your brain. Those repetitive thoughts are able to come to life as new behaviors and actions – which then changes your world and worldview. It’s the power of positive thinking, y’all.

3. A meditation exercise – I think meditation has become mainstream enough that we all know how good it is for us. But even I’ll admit that sitting down and quieting your mind is easier said than done. So I’ve created and curated very specific guided meditations that are easy to commit to.

4. A weekly check-in to keep you on track – I will pop in with easy exercises to keep you on track – from creating a Pinterest board to bring your ideal day to life, to tracking your time so you can get honest about how you spend your days.

Each email isn’t specifically focused on work or life – because you can apply it to either or both. And the cool thing is you can sign up to receive these emails any time. Oh, and it’s only $40 – that’s just $2.50 per email.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT DIY COACHING FOR CREATIVES:

I’m not yet a creative entrepreneur. Can I still take DIY Coaching for Creatives?
YES! 100%. DIY Coaching for Creatives is for anyone who simply wants to design their life on their own terms and needs a few more tools and ideas for making it happen.

Should I start with DIY Coaching or the Braid ECourse? What’s the difference?
If you need a little more work / life guidance DIY Coaching is for you. The Braid ECourses give more specific advice and information on branding and business visioning. You can learn more about the Braid ECourses here and see if it’s a good fit. (Right now we run one ECourse per month – in June 2015 we’ll be consolidating them all into one downloadable ECourse for purchase anytime).

Can I sign up for DIY Coaching for Creatives anytime?
Yup! The DIY Coaching emails are always available for purchase. Once you click “buy” you will receive your first email within 24 hours. If you don’t, email
Emily@braidcreative.com and she’ll get you straightened out.

After working with hundreds of creatives – many still working day jobs – I can say with certainty that uncertainty is the feeling we all struggle with the most. In fact, some of us would rather work an unfulfilling day job, earning a fraction of what we could make on our own for work that doesn’t feed our soul, just so we don’t have to deal with uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty. Uncertainty asks us questions like “What about health insurance?” and “Will you be able to pay your mortgage?” or “How can you ever actually get paid to do the work you want to do?”

Even those of us who have made the leap and have proven ourselves successful still struggle with uncertainty. Uncertainty might say things like “There are only so many people who will hire you.” and “That worked last year, but are you sure it will work this time around?” or “Are you sure you have what it takes to level up?”

Even the most confident creatives you know question their own path from time to time. I know I do – but I don’t let it stop me. Here’s what I do to deal with uncertainty:

I GET TO WORK
Every Sunday evening I start to feel a little anxious about the upcoming week. I suppose because I know I’m about to start the work but I’m not quite working yet. This kind of anxiety likes to keep company with uncertainty – so on Sunday evenings I’m not only thinking about the week ahead and all the work, but I start doubting my abilities to conquer what lies ahead.

Then Monday morning rolls around and I get out of my head and into my work. All The Stuff I have to do know longer feels so heavy once I’m able to dig in and get my hands dirty. Plus, I have deadlines to meet and goals to reach – so I don’t have the time or energy to contemplate my path (and the uncertainty that surrounds it) because there is work to be done.

I TRUST THE PATH
Getting to work is easy – setting down my path, one foot in front of the other is a daily discipline that looks like opening up my laptop, typing on the keyboard, Skyping with clients, and having coffee with creative colleagues. Having faith that heading down this path is going to get me closer to a roster full of dream clients with cash, a best-selling book deal, a calendar full of speaking gigs, and digital products that produce lots of passive income isn’t always so easy.

What I’ve learned about having faith in your path is that it simply comes down to a daily choice to believe in what you’re doing. Your choice to believe in your path will drive you to make actions that produce results. It’s as simple as that.

P.S. Like this post? Then you might like to receive ourLetters for Creatives – it’s our weekly-ish newsletter with exclusive behind-the-scenes content delivered straight to your inbox. Bonus! When you sign up you’ll receive a free worksheet to help you design your ideal day.

The Braid Method Branding ECourse is for creative entrepreneurs who are ready to supporting themselves financially with their business, create a blog or consistent online presence, and finally turn the work they’re already doing into a digital product, package, or offering for dream customers. This branding ecourse comes with 7 learning modules in a 300+ page digital download, a workbook with 20+ branding exercises and scripts, a quarterly masterclass, and an exclusive Facebook group so you can connect with us and other students.

Kathleen here. I spend so much time coaching other creatives,writing blog posts, and recording podcasts that sometimes I forget to share the stuff Braid does, you know… for a living. With that, I am so excited to share some of our recent branding work with you. Tara and I like to share advice and inspiration in this blog space and in our Letters for Creatives, but every once and a while we like to share what we’ve been creating, and how we’ve helped creative entrepreneurs get to a brand that finally feels like them.

Enough talk, here’s some show, with some of these creatives, their brands, and what they have to say about the experience and the brands that finally feel – like them.

“After (too) much struggling—I help other creatives distill their ideas for a living, so I kept telling myself if I just worked harder, I could do it myself—I turned to Braid, and the instant I hired them, everything changed. I relaxed knowing I had the right team in my corner, but I also started taking myself more seriously; I had invested in my dream, and I knew I had to live up to that investment.”
- Erica Midkiff, Content Coach

“After more than ten years of building a successful coaching practice, I knew it was time to expand my reach and start teaching other coaches how to do the same. But "launch new business" remained on my to-do list for more than two years because I couldn't find the time or get the clarity I needed to turn this new idea into reality.

The project seemed too big and too nebulous. Until I met Team Braid.”
- Dallas Travers, Business Coach for Actors and Coaches

“After two meetings with Braid, they took my words and turned them into something clear and beautiful - something I am so proud and happy to share with the world. I do a lot of personal health work one-on-one with people, and getting that personal feel and interaction is something that I feel they translated beautifully onto the screen.”
- Lindsay Kluge, Herbalist

“There is something magical in the Braid approach. We are delighted, excited and pleased to have worked with such fun and creative people."
- Gerry Flake and Kathryn M. Downing, Galileo Coaching

“Going through the Braid Method gave me the vision and courage to move forward with a new and fresh creative identity. What I had thought of as "distractions," became part of the larger story of my brand, my business, my creativity – my life. Braid didn't just slap a logo on my business and call it done. They took me through a process of discovering my life's purpose and work as a modern homesteader and edgy maker. I left the experience with a clear idea what DOONYAYA was all about.”
- Dunja von Stoddard, maker and creative entrepreneur

“I am a writer/blogger who wanted to share what I have learned along my blogging journey, with other creative bloggers like myself. My personal website didn’t showcase what I had to offer, I felt “stuck”, and not sure how to fix it. Once I started working with Braid, I felt as ease because they “got me”!”
- Desiree Spinner, creative entrepreneur

“I was so blown away during our meetings that I was often speechless. Me – a writer – without words. I’ve referenced the business vision guide so often, it would have tattered pages if it weren’t a PDF. They captured my brand story and services in a succinct, beautifully packaged way that really resonates with my dream (!) customers. And my brand is so awesome, I nearly died when I first saw it. It’s fun, fresh, and vibrant. I’m also happy to say that it’s all WORKING – people are knocking on my coaching door. And I wouldn’t be behind it if it weren’t for Braid."
- Nicole Christie, Coaching for Solopreneurs

“Braid refined my seemingly impossible ideas and ramblings into something clear, concise, and tangible. They captured the look and feel I wanted beyond my wildest dreams. The brand platform they created is perfect for me. I am absolutely in love with my logo!”
- Crystal Vaugn, Chef and Creative Entrepreneur

We’re for creative entrepreneurs who offer a service, like nutritionists, yogis, lifestyle coaches, writers, and designers. They are ready to leap from day job to dream job, or finally launch a brand for their new business that really feels like them – so they can look and feel like a boss. If this is you and you’re ready for help contact us or email me at
kathleen@braidcreative.com and we’ll send you more details on what it looks and feels like to work with us – plus the nitty gritty details of exactly what you get, what to expect along the way, and how much it costs.

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The Braid Method Branding ECourse is for creative entrepreneurs who are ready to supporting themselves financially with their business, create a blog or consistent online presence, and finally turn the work they’re already doing into a digital product, package, or offering for dream customers. This branding ecourse comes with 7 learning modules in a 300+ page digital download, a workbook with 20+ branding exercises and scripts, a quarterly masterclass, and an exclusive Facebook group so you can connect with us and other students.

THE BRAID BLOG from TARA AND KATHLEENBraid Creative & Consulting is branding and business visioning for creative entrepreneurs. The Braid Blog is where we share weekly insights and resources for creatives.

This ecourse is for creative people like designers, photographers, stylists, lifestyle coaches, wellness professionals, yogis, foodies, writers, bloggers, and creative consultants. Whether you’re just starting out, or have lots of experience, our step-by-step guidance will help you create a brand and business vision that feels more clear, confident, and like the true you.

LETTERS for CREATIVES

Want more? Sign up for our exclusive weekly email letters from us, Kathleen and Tara, for insights and advice from our own personal and professional overlap – as sisters, business owners, content sharers, and creative entrepreneurs.

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KATHLEEN'S PERSONAL BLOG

For a more candid, behind-the-scenes look at the work, life, and adventure overlap.